Developments in Geotechnical Engineering Series

The Penetrometer and Soil Exploration: Interpretation of Penetration Diagrams—Theory presents the many uses of the penetrometer for investigating soil conditions. Testing methods include the following: (1) in situ load tests on full-scale foundations; (2) laboratory testing of undisturbed samples, and (3) in situ testing of soils. The book regards the advantages of using the penetrometer as a handy tool in drilling and sampling. The text emphasizes that the investigator should never rely entirely on the analogy or the extrapolation of information pertaining to a nearby site. The text describes the different shapes of the penetrometer diagrams obtained from tests in homogeneous cohesionless soil, as well as the significance of the embedment of a pile into the bearing stratum for deep foundation designs. The paper discusses the De Beer theory, Kerisel's theory, and the theory developed at the Delft Laboratory of Soil Mechanics. The laboratory determines the maximum soil pressure and the corresponding embedment of the pile. According to Professor L'Herminier, "the bearing capacity of a pile may be determined...from laboratory tests on soil samples, the other by extrapolating penetrometer data." The book is suitable for structural engineers, civil engineers, geologists, architects, and students of soil mechanics.

Tunneling in Rock reviews the theory and practice of engineering geology and its application to tunneling in rocks. This book explores the history of tunneling, defines terminologies of tunneling, and illustrates tunnels. The book discusses the petrography of unaltered rocks, such as rock minerals, fragmental rocks, igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks. The book then describes rock alteration, which may be caused by weathering. Such alterations are low-temperature alterations at moderate depths, hydrothermal alteration, deuteric alteration, pneumatolytic alteration, and other miscellaneous types of alteration. The book also discusses elementary rock mechanics, such as isotropism and anisotropism; mechanical properties of rocks; force and stress; and the fracture and fold anisotropy in rocks, including the deformation of minerals, elastic, quasi-elastic, and plastic rocks. The remaining chapters of the book focus on hydrogeology; geological investigation of proposed tunnel locations and its application to tunnel planning and design; different tunneling methods; and geological investigations during tunnel constructions. Those who are interested in geological aspects of planning and constructing tunnels will find this book valuable.

Dams and Earthquakes deals with the association of earthquakes and large artificial lakes, particularly on the part that pore pressure plays in inducing earthquakes. The book also contains methods for recording seismic activity, before, during, and after the filling of reservoir dams through the installation of a network of portable seismographs. The text assesses the parameters and macroseismic effects of the Koyna earthquake in India in December 1967, as well as the instrumental and macroseismic data showing that the Koyna earthquake is a multiple seismic event. The book investigates the geology, hydrology, and seismicity of seismic reservoir sites, including three cases of induced seismicity after fluid injections in deep wells. A possible correlation between the reservoir level or volume of the injected fluid and the tremor frequency exists. The characteristic seismic features of reservoir associated earthquakes can reflect changes in the mechanical properties of rock masses near the reservoirs. The book also investigates the part played by increased pore-fluid pressures in triggering the earthquakes at Denver, Rangely, Kariba, Kremasta and Koyna. The UNESCO Working Group on "Seismic Phenomena Associated with Large Reservoirs" recommends the adoption of a two-phase planning in instrumental studies and surveys at sites to be used for large reservoirs. The book can be beneficial for meteorologists, environmentalists, geologists, civil engineers, structural engineers, or for officers of river and lake authorities.

Landslides and Their Control

This is a comprehensive, detailed coverage of the subject indicated by the title, embracing all aspects from design criteria over design to construction. Basic wave research, wave structure interaction, hydrodynamics, hydraulics, modelling, solid mechanics, soil mechanics, materials execution, maintenance and equipment are all paid equal attention by highly experienced scientists, engineers and constructors in the field. It is a necessary acquisition for practical wave scientists as well as for technicians and engineers.

Rock Dynamics and Geophysical Exploration: Introduction to Stress Waves in Rocks deals with a theoretical tool for predicting stress waves in rocks. The book considers both elastic and Kelvin type materials, and also explains some experiments of stress waves in rocks. The book reviews concepts in the analysis of stresses and deformations, the fundamental equations used to examine the propagation of stress waves in certain types of solids, and the characteristics features of plane waves in elastic mediums. The text explains wave propagation in rocks due to a detonating charge (resulting in stress waves with a spherical symmetry), the response of a cylinder to an outside excitation (resulting in a cylindrical wave), or a harmonically oscillating stress from an outside excitation (resulting in a harmonic input pulse). The text explains Kelvin materials as a generalization of the behavior of the material where a damping effect is incorporated with the elastic medium being studied. The book also compares experimental results of the application of stress waves in rocks with theory, and explains the sensitivity criteria for tunnels. The text cites as an example, the significance of the interaction between tunnels and shock waves before any tunnel expansion can be made by engineers. The book will prove valuable for geologists or for structural, civil, and mining engineers.

Developments in Geotechnical Engineering, Volume 18: Stress in Subsoil and Methods of Final Settlement Calculation reviews the method of settlement calculations based on stresses in the subsoil. This book is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 deals with in situ stresses in the subsoil, while Chapter 2 focuses on the state of stress produced in the subsoil by external loads. The last chapter discusses the methods of calculating the final settlement, including remarks on the selection of deformation parameters. This publication also discusses the horizontal geostatic stress, surface loading of a half-space, method of oedometric compression, and finite element and allied methods. This volume is recommended for researchers and specialists of disciplines related to geotechnical engineering.

Canal and River Levées covers the fundamental principles of canal embankments and levées calculation and design. Canal embankments and levées are amongst the world's oldest hydroengineering structures. This book is divided into seven chapters that focus on solving the problems of protecting control levees, which sometimes called anti-flood or anti-inundation dykes. The opening chapter surveys the general problems of dam design and construction. The next chapters deal with the basic characteristics, determination, experimental methods, and calculations of seepage, as well as the stability calculations and embankment settlement. These topics are followed by discussions of the local conditions and demands relating to the construction of embankments and their various concrete structures. Other chapters explore the requirements of power- and irrigation-canal sealing and the subsoil protection of levees. The last chapter looks into the measurements, general requirements, and observation of dams and levees. This book is intended primarily for civil engineering designers.

The Bearing Capacity of Building Foundations describes the different ways of ultimate bearing capacity determination of building foundations. This four-chapter book considers the effect of a horizontal force acting on a foundation. It also examines a situation where, beneath the foundation level in the zone of influence of the foundation there are two layers of soil, including the case where the second, lower layer is formed by incompressible rock. A chapter explores the case where the subgrade consists of a number of heterogeneous strata of soil. The remaining chapters deal with the determination of the permissible load of a foundation and the safety factor, and also the contact stress in the foundation line, since this has a great influence on the dimensioning of foundation slabs. This book will prove useful to practicing civil engineers.

Soil Physics: Selected Topics covers the results in the research field of soil physics, soil mechanics, and the behavior of real soils. This book is divided into six chapters and begins with an introduction to the study of the physical characteristics of soil and the complexity of superstructure of soil mechanics. The next chapter deals with the distribution of coarse grains according to their volume and the distribution of pore sizes in fine-grained materials. This chapter also describes the properties of granular mixtures and the compatibility of transition soils. The discussion then shifts to investigation of soil strength, particularly the strength of sand and transition soils, the tensile and shear strengths of cohesive soils, and brittle failure of soils. The remaining chapters consider the classification of soil phase movement phenomena. This book is intended primarily for practicing civil engineers.

These papers cover mechanical properties and processes; thermal properties, processes and design; frost action in soils; and design and case histories.

Developments in Geotechnical Engineering, 23: Stability of Tidal Inlets: Theory and Engineering focuses on all aspects related to tidal inlets on littoral drift shores where freshwater flow is small or non-existing. The selection first tackles the development and configuration of tidal inlets and inlet hydraulics. Discussions focus on flow dynamics and nearshore transport, combinations of waves and currents, sediment transport and storage in the tidal entrance, offsets of tidal inlets, natural inlet regimen, migration of inlets, and origin of tidal inlets. The manuscript then examines sediment transport in tidal inlets, stability of tidal inlets on littoral drift shores, and design and improvements of coastal inlets. Topics cover ocean entrance, overall stability condition, hydraulic and sedimentary principles, non-scouring channels, transport of sediments in wave agitated waters, and sediment transport by combined wave and current action. The publication explores improvements by structures, including natural bypassing, types of improvement, and bypassing by structures and bypassing plants or arrangements. The selection is a valuable source of data for researchers interested in the stability of tidal inlets.

Although theoretical in character, this book provides a useful source of information for those dealing with practical problems relating to rock and soil mechanics - a discipline which, in the view of the authors, attempts to apply the theory of continuum to the mechanical investigation of rock and soil media. The book is in two separate parts. The first part, embodying the first three chapters, is devoted to a description of the media of interest. Chapter 1 introduces the main argument and discusses the essence of the discipline and its links with other branches of science which are concerned, on the one hand, with technical mechanics and, on the other, with the properties, origins, and formation of rock and soil strata under natural field conditions. Chapter 2 describes mechanical models of bodies useful for the purpose of the discourse and defines the concept of the limit shear resistance of soils and rocks. Chapter 3 gives the actual properties of soils and rocks determined from experiments in laboratories and in situ. Several tests used in geotechnical engineering are described and interconnections between the physical state of rocks and soils and their rheological parameters are considered. The second part of the book considers the applications of various theories which were either first developed for descriptive purposes in continuum mechanics and then adopted in soil and rock mechanics, or were specially developed for the latter discipline. Chapter 4 discusses the application of the theory of linear viscoelasticity in solving problems of stable behaviour of rocks and soils. Chapter 5 covers the use of the groundwater flow theory as applied to several problems connected with water movement in an undeformable soil or rock skeleton. Chapter 6 is a natural expansion of the arguments put forward in the previous chapter. Here the movement of water is regarded as the cause of deformation of the rock or soil skeleton and the consolidation theory developed on this basis is presented in a novel formulation. Some new engineering solutions are also reported. The seventh chapter is devoted to the limit state theory as applied to the study of the mechanical behaviour of soils and rocks. It presents some new solutions and methods which include both static and kinematic aspects of the problem, and some original effective methods for investigating media of limited cohesion. The final chapter gives a systematic account of the mechanics of highly dispersed soils, commonly called clays.

Soil rheology is a branch of soil mechanics investigating the origin of, and the time-dependent changes in the stressed and strained state of soil. The author of this book however interprets rheology as being the science concerned on the one hand with how the state of stress and strain is formed and altered in a body, and on the other, with the particulars of the body's behaviour failing to fit the traditional concepts of elasticity and plasticity. There are many instances where the actual behaviour of soil differs substantially from schematized concepts and by taking into account all the peculiarities of soil deformation, precise knowledge of soil properties can be obtained and analytical prediction thus improved. Such problems are tackled in this book. This book comprises three main parts. The first part deals with basic rheological concepts and terms, the physics of soil, principles of stress-strain theory, elasticity, plasticity and viscosity - all cardinal rheological properties. The second part explains the rheological processes taking place in soils, such as creep and long-term strength, which are examined by the author with allowance for nonlinear deformation. Along with the known phenomenological theories, attention is paid to the novel kinetic (physical) theory of deformations and long-term strength. The third part outlines the generalized theory of soil deformation. It explains why soil offers different resistances to tensional and compressional deformations and derives the generalized rheological equation of state, enabling the effect of the three stress tensor invariants on the changes in shape and volume to be taken into account. From the standpoint of the theory discussed, the penultimate chapter gives examples of solutions to some problems facing soil mechanics. The final chapter reviews mathematical models representing the actual behaviour of soil under load and provides numerical solutions for engineering problems obtained with the aid of computer models. Thus the book provides a wealth of information which will be of interest both to the practising geotechnical engineer as well as to teachers and students.

Mechanics of Particulate Materials

Since the publication of the first Dams and Earthquakes in 1976, the phenomenon of reservoir induced seismicity (RIS) is more widely understood. There are now over 70 known cases of reservoir-induced earthquakes. These damaging earthquakes have occurred in China, Kariba, Zambia, Greece, Kremasta, Koyna, India, California and elsewhere. The December 10, 1967 Koyna earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.3 claimed over 200 lives, injured 1500 and rendered thousands homeless. Because of the ever increasing demand for dam construction, for power generation, irrigation, and flood control, it is necessary to understand how, where and why induced earthquakes occur. Recent research has demonstrated that when suitable physical measurements of rock properties are made, a fairly accurate model of induced seismicity can be obtained. It appears possible to mitigate the hazard of RIS through manipulation of reservoir levels. The present volume is an updated and revised follow-up to the 1976 book. It presents an overview of the world-wide distribution of RIS, the salient aspects of RIS at specific reservior sites where earthquakes of M〉5 have occurred and where new results on RIS are reported, and how they differ from the normal earthquake sequences. An examination of the non-occurrence of induced earthquakes in the vicinity of the Himalyan reservoirs and other related topics such as: the size of the largest induced earthquake that could occur at a given reservoir site; prediction of induced earthquakes; and dam site investigations which should be completed during the planning and operation of the reservoirs are also included.

The papers in this volume provide a unified approach to the design of underground structures in stratified coal and mineral deposits. They include examples of underground structure design in coal and evaporite mines, and case histories of performance of underground structures.

Based on the fundamentals of geotechnics and hydrology, this book includes chapters on hydraulics, hydrogeology, pedology, hydrochemistry, meteorology and mathematical statistics. The first part deals with theoretical and methodological problems and mathematical methods; and the second presents methods of obtaining solutions to practical problems.

This book presents the most up to date information relevant to the design and instrumentation of underground structures. The structure might be a tunnel, shaft, cavern, or pressure unit, or a combination thereof. Empirical, rational, numerical, convergence and confinement, and discontinuity analysis methods are treated comprehensively. Special chapters are devoted to underground structures in rock burst, swelling, squeezing, and seismic zones. Water control, instrumentation, and tunneling through soft ground are also treated extensively. Sections on the design of pressure tunnels, shafts, caverns, shotcreting, water control, and soft ground tunnels are informative and authoritative. Worked examples are included on the design of rock tunnels, soft ground tunnels, and the treatment of underground structures through difficult ground. Extensive references are provided, and figures, sketches and photographs aid presentation. Important tables on planning, and case histories, allow the reader to build confidence in his design of underground structures. The book will be beneficial to civil, structural, geotechnical and mining engineers, geologists, and planners and managers associated with the design and construction of underground structures.

Engineering geology is an interdisciplinary subject concerned with the application of geological science to engineering practice, and it is therefore important for the engineering geologist to recognize the boundary between engineering application and purely scientific enquiry. Much research in applied clay science results from imperfectly understood engineering behaviour. Engineering geology is most closely allied to the geotechnical and materials areas of civil engineering. The scope of the present book is limited to the influence of clay but because clay is almost ubiquitous in earth materials the subject still remains broad. In soil and rock, clay is the smallest size fraction, but it is that very fact which often determines its major influences on engineering behaviour. In this book the author reviews the importance of clay in engineering geology and summarizes present knowledge in this field. The plan of the book has remained unchanged since the first edition was published in 1968 but the text, diagrams and reference lists have all been extensively updated. The first 5 chapters review the classification, origin, composition, fabric and physical chemistry of clays. Behavioural aspects, covered in the following 4 chapters, include moisture interaction, strength and rheology, soil stabilization and the use of clays as materials. The final 3 chapters describe methods of analysis of clays and soils. Clay in Engineering Geology contains material drawn from a wide variety of sources and, together with its literature review and indexes, will provide much of value to geologists, mineralogists, civil and geotechnical engineers concerned with applied clay science.

Despite advances in the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering, earthquakes continue to cause loss of life and property in one part of the world or another. The Third International Conference on Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 22nd to 24th June 1987, provided an opportunity for participants from all over the world to share their expertise to enhance the role of mechanics and other disciplines as they relate to earthquake engineering. The edited proceedings of the conference are published in four volumes. This volume covers: Constitutive Relations in Soil Dynamics, Liquefaction of Soils, and Experimental Soil Dynamics. With its companion volumes, it is hoped that it will contribute to the further development of techniques, methods and innovative approaches in soil dynamics and earthquake engineering.

This book provides a simple new approach to the problems of pressure and deformation associated with real materials. It introduces parameters used to provide original solutions to a wide range of problems. These include: pressure on silo walls and retaining walls (flexible and rigid), trench sheeting, shafts, pipes and tunnels; and settlements of foundations, roads, and embankments. The parameters are readily measured in standard triaxial apparatus, and are combined to provide a stress-strain-time relationship for the soil for specific drainage and boundary conditions. The first part of the book introduces topics relevant to the second part, i.e. standard geotechnical properties, soil testing, stress problems, earth pressure, flow in permeable media, and classical models such as elasticity and plasticity. In the second part, the parameters are defined and details given on their application to specified boundary conditions, with corrections for variations of stress, dimensions and loading rates. Examples and case histories demonstrate the versatility and validity of the method. No prior knowledge of geotechnics is assumed. The book will be suitable for students at any level in geotechnics and engineering geology. The emphasis on measured instead of idealised behaviour will appeal to practising engineers who will find in this book simple solutions to some of the most intractable problems in geotechnics.

In this book, the authors present a review of the methods used for the solution of problems of stability and support of mine workings, based on the study and analysis of the validity conditions of individual theoretical computing procedures. The classification of these methods, based on the analysis of factors determining the behaviour of a system of mine openings, should contribute to the greater objectivity of decisions connected with the management and control of mining operations and, from the educational point of view, enable the intricate problems of stability to be better understood. Chapters dealing with support structures and technologies of support review the present state of the art with special reference to problems prevailing in Europe where mining is carried out under continuously deteriorating and less favourable natural conditions. The authors have assembled the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary for those to whom the book is addressed, namely, practising mining engineers and project managers, and students and graduates in mining colleges and schools.

Grouting is a construction process by means of which the highly erratic permeability and deformability of foundation rock and soil are homogenized. The main parameter governing the design and construction of grouting works is the permeability of the rock or soil, which is established by means of field permeability tests. This book assembles information on rock and soil grouting from various sources, together with the author's personal experience on several grouting projects. Some aspects of permeability testing of rock and soils are elaborated, and the use of theoretical ground water percolation studies for clarification of design options for grout curtains are presented. The results achieved by grouting are presented and analysed on examples of constructed grouting works (curtains, tunnels, foundations, lifting of structures). Particulars of the performance of the permeability tests and their evaluation are studied in some detail, since they can very much distort the results obtained, and thus lead to erroneous design assumptions. Systematic grouting and adjustment of the injection process to the development of grout consumption and pressure during injection is discussed in connection with the achievement of the required permeability standard. The application of grouting to reduce the permeability and the deformability of the foundation of dams and hydrotechnical structures is presented, together with a number of illustrative examples. Characteristics of contact and consolidation grouting of dam foundations and tunnel linings are described. The possibilities and examples of rock prestressing by means of grouting are reported, and the results from several applications are discussed. Examples of lifting and levelling leaning structures by means of grouting are also reviewed. The book is illustrated by 180 drawings and 20 photographs, and a list of symbols used in the formulae, plus a glossary of specific terms used in grouting, are included at the end of the book. The book is intended for organizations, civil engineers and geologists involved in the exploration, design, construction and supervision of large dams, hydroelectric power projects, tunnels and other underground works. Teachers and students of civil engineering courses in geotechnics, building and construction, rock mechanics, soil mechanics, engineering geology, and some aspects of mining engineering will also find the book useful.

Lifeline earthquake engineering is the application of all relevant knowledge and skill to provide economically feasible engineering safeguards for critical systems such as energy, transportation, water, power, communications, etc. Natural gas and oil pipelines, water and sewage lines, oil and gas storage facilities, tunnels, power, voice and data communication lines and equipment are some of the recognized examples in this relatively new area of interest which has attracted an ever-increasing number of researchers in the past few years. This volume contains most of the papers on lifeline earthquake engineering which were presented at the Third International Conference on Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 22-24 June 1987. A number of recent major developments in analytical/experimental investigations and field observations for buried pipelines, underground structures and storage tanks were presented by some of the leading experts from the United States, Japan and China.

The book gives a detailed theoretical background of the constructional principles of instruments necessary for the most general tasks of surveying. Undergraduate and graduate students will find it very useful in surveying studies to get acquainted with the broad variety of instruments, both classical and new ones. At the same time, specialists in surveying will also find the book full of new material. The book contains about 600 pictures, including photographs and detailed descriptions of the most representative types of instrumentation. Older types of instruments already out of use, or used only occasionally, are described in broad outline, mentioning basic principles, methods of testing and possibilities for their modernization. New categories of instruments, such as gyroscopes, compensation levelling instruments, electronic theodolites, distance meters and tacheometers, are dealt with in more detail. Care has been taken to include the automation which is rapidly spreading in all fields of instrument manufacture, being necessary to reduce manual operations. The book is intended for builders, architects, technicians, teachers of surveying and professional manufacturers.

Despite advances in the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering, earthquakes continue to cause loss of life and property in one part of the world or another. The Third International Conference on Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 22nd to 24th June 1987, provided an opportunity for participants from all over the world to share their expertise to enhance the role of mechanics and other disciplines as they relate to earthquake engineering. The edited proceedings of the conference are published in four volumes. This volume covers: Soil Structure Interaction under Dynamic Loads, Vibration of Machine Foundations, and Base Isolation in Earthquake Engineering. With its companion volumes, it is hoped that it will contribute to the further development of techniques, methods and innovative approaches in soil dynamics and earthquake engineering.

Distributed in the East European countries, China, Northern Korea, Cuba, Vietnam and Mongolia by Academia, Prague, Czechoslovakia This book is based on the efficient subsoil model introduced by the authors in 1977 and applied in the last ten years in the design of foundations. From the designer's point of view, the model considerably reduces the extent of the calculations connected with the numerical analysis of soil-structure interaction. The algorithms presented are geared for use on mini- and personal computers and can be used in any numerical method. A special chapter is devoted to the implementation of the model in the NE-XX finite element program package, illustrated with diagrams, tables and practical examples. Besides presenting the energy definition and general theory of both 2D and 3D model forms, the book also deals with practical problems such as Kirchhoff's and Mindlin's foundation plates, interaction between neighbouring structures, actual values of physical constants of subsoils and natural frequencies and shapes of foundation plates. Today, researchers and engineers can choose from a wide range of soil models, some fairly simple and others very elaborate. However, the gap which has long existed between geomechanical theory and everyday design practice still persists. The present book is intended to suit the practical needs of the designer by introducing an efficient subsoil model in which the surrounding soil is substituted by certain properties of the structure-soil interface. When a more precise solution is required, a more sophisticated model form can be used. Its additional degrees of deformation freedom can better express the behaviour of layered or generally unhomogeneous subsoil. As a result, designers will find that this book goes some way towards bridging the above-mentioned gap between structural design theory and day-to-day practice.

The foundation of structures and the construction of underground railways in urban areas would be impossible without the use of diaphragm walls, grouting, anchors, micropiles, slender retaining walls, etc. Based on the author's own experience and taking into account the findings of various other authors, this book explains these methods in an intelligible manner, enabling the reader to judge for himself their suitability in construction practice. The aim of the book is to instruct experts in the correct application of grouting methods, and the correct choice of drilling systems and tools. It provides mainly practical information, and describes the most suitable, up-to-date technology available. Grouting applications in Czechoslovakia and abroad are illustrated by a series of practical examples. The book is designed for students of civil engineering faculties specializing in structural foundation, specialists of building companies, and experts in structural foundation. It will also be appreciated by experts in underground railway and tunnel construction, in structural engineering and urban development (landslides), as well as by manufacturers of the respective technology.

This book has been designed to provide a fundamental knowledge of the geological structure and properties of rocks and rock masses. It sets out laboratory and field methods for examining these media, presents physical and mechanical models used in their description, and reviews geotechnical classifications, discussing their use in solving various engineering tasks. Three basic problems of rock mechanics are discussed, namely, the distribution of stresses, the criteria and mechanisms of failure in rocks and rock masses, and the hydraulics of water flow in rock masses, together with effects associated with this flow. Attention is also paid to methods for solving basic engineering problems related to the behaviour of the bedrock on which various hydrostructures have been founded, are planned to be founded, or are in the process of being constructed. A prominent feature of the book is its methodical approach. It offers a sympathetic survey of the problems involved and enables the reader to select, according to the adopted criteria, an appropriate method for the solution of the engineering problem at hand by following the ready-to-use procedure included. In addition, numerous drawings, abundant tabulated data, and an extensive bibliography, permits the reader to gain a deeper knowledge of the problems under consideration. The book will be of interest to those concerned with hydrotechnical projects, lecturers and students in higher technical schools, and researchers investigating the problems of rock mechanics.